Friday, March 21, 2014

Iconic fountains are often filled with coins, and our Josephine Shaw Lowell Fountain is no exception. Every year, thousands of coins are periodically removed from the fountain. They are washed and sorted: U.S. currency is deposited to fund the park, and foreign and rare coins are on display in our offices.

From Norwegian kronors to Turkish lira, our coins span the globe. Below is a look at some of the more interesting coins that have been pulled out.

A treasure chest of foreign and old coins.

These South American coins, laid over their countries of origin, help us determine where our visitors come from.

Some coins, like this French franc and Spanish peso (top row), are obsolete because of the Euro. Other items, like this transit token and arcade token (bottom row), are not currency at all.